Connector for electric conduits.



'J. G. PHELPS.

CONNECTOR FOR ELECTRIC GONDUITS.

APPLICATION FILED 00123, 1912.

atented Jan. 6, 1914.

INVENTOR, Jix/zrr 612%6' a; BY

WITNESSES.-

mrg ATTORNEY.

UNITED STATES TENT OFFICE.

JAMES o. rHELrs, or SPRINGFIELD, uassaoiausnxr'rs.

CONNECTOR FOR ELECTRIC CONDUITS.

Specification of Lc ters a nt. Patented Jan. 6, 1914;.

Application filed Jctober 23, 1912. Serial No. 727,820.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES C. PHELPS, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Springfield, in the county of Hampden and State ofMassachusetts, have 1nvented new and useful Improvements in Gonnectorsfor Electric Conduits, of which the following is a specification.

' lengths "thus making it very difiicult to draw in or pull the cablesthrough the conduits and especially around these corners or bends. Sucha construction very often necessitates splicing the cables thusmaterially increasing the cost of installation.

The object of the present invention is to provide a connector or elbowmember, one part of which is designed to be ermanently attached to theopposed ends 0 the conduit pipes, and the cover, or other part beingseparable, whereby the workman can easily draw or pull the cablesthrough the pipe after the cover has been removed. Such a.

construction avoidsthe necessity of cutting or splicing the wires,during such construction.

Referring to the drawings,Figure l 1 shows the connector attached to thead acent ends of the conduit or pipe and with the coversecuredin place.Fig. 2 is a view similar' to Fig. 1, but with the cover removed,

and clearly illustrating the interior construction of the'connector, theconnector being unattached to the conduits. Fig. 3 illustrates the coverdetached from the con-- necto r.v Fig. 4 is a view of one of the caps rfor securing the connector tothe ends of the conduits. Fig. 5 IS avertical sectional view on the line 5--5 of Fig. 1 showing the manherfor securing the connector to the end of the conduit. Flg. 6 1s a planview showing double-T construction.- Fig. 8 is a detailed plan viewof'the lock-nut.

. ZReferring to the drawings in detail a. and

b designate the adjacent ends of the conduits .or pipes that are tobeconnected together.

0' designates the part of the connector member that is designed to bepermanently attached to the ends of the conduit. This member is formedwith a groove (Z to receive the nute, shown in detail in Fig. 8, theopening therein being threaded and which is placed on the ends of thepipe. Adjacent the groove d is a recess f, the side wall of which isslightly inclined, as indicated at P" and against this inclined wall theend of the adjacent pipebears when rigidly secured to the member 0. Inorder secure this member-to the pipe, the nut c is placed in the grooved, then the cap g, shown in Fig. t is placed over the end of the pipewith its opening it therein to receive the nut c. This cap is retainedin place on the fixed member c by means of the screws i. The operatorthen rotates the nute by inserting a screw driver, "or other'tool, inthe notches or recesses 0 the nut being turned onto the end of the pipeuntil it comes to rest against the shoulder 7', whereby the end of thepipe is r gidly clamped to the member 0. The same operation is carriedout at the opposite end.

of the member 0, so that this member is rigidly connected to the twoends a and b of the pipes. C

7s designates a cover or cap that is adapted to be secured in place onthe member 0 after the wires, indicated at m and n, are drawn throughthe conduits. The workman, after the cover k is removed, as shown inFig. 1, is allowed perfect freedom for pulling the cables through thepipes in either direction. After the cables have been drawn in orthrough one of the pipes, as a, the operator can theneasily pull thecable through the adjacent pipe 3), whereby the cables are easily drawnaround a bend in the conduit. After this operation, the cap 7c issecured in place. An important feature of this construction is that theinterior surface of the member c is made capacious to permit plenty ofroom to make splices, or take oft branch wires, should occasion require.Another advantage of this construction is that the member c ispermanently connected to tlle'two ends of the pipes c and 6, whereas insome of the connectors in present use there is no means of permanentlyattaching one part of this connector to the pipes. 3y making the recessf with inclined shoulders f the pipes are thoroughly grounded on thiscon- 1"" "neetor member, thus formin a good electrical contact for theentire circuit.

Referring to Fig. 6 in which the connector, instead of being madecurving or quadrant shaped, is formed straight, the removable covermember being indicated at p, the right hand portion of which is shownbroken away in the figure and with the cables extending directly throughfrom one conduit to the other. The cap members are similar to that shownat g in Fig. 4 which are employed at each end of the con nector topermanently attach the member r to the opposite ends of the pipe a andZ), it being, of course, understood that the cover 2) is removed duringthe operation of pullmg the cables through the pipes. The cover isremoved by unscrewing the attaching bolt 8, as already described inconnection with Figsrl and 2. The usual nut' construction, shown in Fig.5, is employed to rigidly attach the opposite ends of the pipe a and bto the member 1".

In Fig. 7 is illustrated the idea of making the conduit connector ofcross or double-T shape," this form being especially useful where it isdesired to connect or lead off branch-wires from the main wires. As thewires t maybe considered the main circuit and t the branch circuit, thesplicing c'r connectionbeing made within the box by simply removing thecover a in the manner already 'described. 'From this constructionit'will be seen that the invention in general consists of a connector,one member of which ispermanently attached to the opposite ends of theconduit pipes and with a cover adapted to be readily removed during theoperation of drawing the cables in place or in making splices, ifdesired.

It should be noticed that the cap 9 is formed with a grooved portionadjacent the edges of the opening h. to receive the nut 6 when in place.This groove borders the opening it on its opposite ends and 'is, ofcourse, the same in shape and size as the groove (Z in the ends of thefixed member 0, and is indicated in Fig. 4- at 9 The groove (Z in thefixed member a is not formed with an opening in the rear portion thereofsince this portion of the connector is against the wall. The opening itin the cap 9 permits a screw driver or other implement to be inserted toturn the nut e.

What I claim, is

1. In a connector device for electric con.- duits to permit electriccables to be easily drawn through the same, and formed with recesses inits end portions to receive the opposed ends of the conduit, the innerend portions of the recesses being inclined and against which the endsof the pipes are designed to engage, grooves leading into the recessesand designed to receive a nut on the ends of the conduit, a cap, meansfor securing the cap to the connector device and having an openingtherein to register with the said grooves and to receive said nut, aremovable cover-member, and means for seouring the same to the deviceand located between the caps.

52. A connector device for permanent attachment to the ends of theconduit pipes during the operation of drawing in the electric cables andcomprising a fixed member and cap members, the ends of the membershaving a recess to receive the ends of the pipe on which is placed anut, and registering grooves in the members to receive the nut, wherebywhen the cap is secured to the fixed member, the same may be secured tothe pipes by means of the nut, a-cover member, and means to secure thesame in place after the cables are drawn through the conduits, asdescribed.

3. A connector device for permanently securing together the ends ofelectric conduits and comprising a fixed member and capmembers, the endsof the fixed member having a recess to receive the ends of the pipe, anda part of the recess being grooved to receive a nut on the ends of thepipe, said cap member having an opening and groove therein to registerwith the groove in the fixed member and to receive the nuts, means tosecure the cap in place whereby the nut may be operated through saidopening to se cure the connector in place, as described.

JAMES C. PHELPS. \Vitnesses K. I. Cmnuons,

. ITARRY V Bowen.

